Strategy has revealed the 2025 Marketers of the Year. You can check here to see our list of profiles on brand leaders, today featuring Maple Leaf Foods’ D’Arcy Finley. This article was previously featured in the Winter 2025 issue of Strategy Magazine.

D’Arcy Finley hasn’t had the easiest job. The VP of marketing joined Maple Leaf Foods in 2010, a time when the company’s reputation was still in crisis following a listeria outbreak that had shaken consumer trust. Tasked with helping to rebuild that trust, Finley’s mission to make Maple Leaf Food brands synonymous with quality and transparency has never wavered.

In 2024, it was his purpose-driven approach that led to an ambitious plan to make it disdainful to buy anything other than its Prime Raised Without Antibiotics (RWA) chicken. Even though there were inflationary pressures making consumers reluctant to pay a premium, Finley followed through on the need to educate the public about the dangers of antibiotic resistance – a critical but often overlooked issue. “Consumers weren’t connecting the dots between antibiotic use in farming and the risks to their families and communities,” Finley explains.

His strategy was to spotlight the overuse of antibiotics in animal farming and emphasize the importance of acting now. Working with No Fixed Address (NFA), Maple Leaf Foods launched an online campaign for its RWA chicken, delivering 29 million impressions and a rebound of Prime’s business, from -19% to +9%. The campaign, part of Maple Leaf Foods’ “Natural Negotiators” platform, highlighted the importance of RWA, while telling the story of parents and picky eaters. According to an internal brand equity study, its Prime brand ranked #1 with consumers when it comes to food made with natural ingredients as a result of the campaign.

“I think what I’m most proud of is that this is a tough environment for Canadian consumers, and it’s a real challenge not only to motivate shoppers to trade up to more premium brands, but also to tap into things they really care about outside of inflation,” he says.

Finley was also one of the key architects in helping to unify Maple Leaf Food’s various sub-brand campaigns under a cohesive creative direction. Historically, the company’s sub-brand campaigns, while effective at driving category volume, didn’t always “halo” back to the overarching brand. Under Finley’s leadership, the team developed a unified storytelling approach that used a consistent tone across all communications.

Maple Leaf Foods’ “Natural Negotiators” campaign highlighted parents’ eternal struggle with picky eaters. 

Take for example the “Natural Negotiators” campaign, which dramatized the all-too-familiar plight of parents trying to get their picky eaters to actually ingest food. The different “negotiating” tactics of kids were highlighted, from turning into a ragdoll, to always saying no. The solution to all these strategies was a Maple Leaf sub-brand. The company’s Prime Chicken Raised without Antibiotics brought one kid to the table, while its Natural Selections enticed another. The specific products changed, but the story was consistent over several spots. The approach unlocked an impressive 7% growth in the brand’s net promoter score, according to the marketer.

Finley’s commitment to purpose extends beyond campaigns. Recognizing the growing food insecurity crisis in Canada, he helped champion the launch of its Maple Leaf Centre for Food Security in 2016. Under the guidance of a board of directors, the registered charity works closely with non-profits to help Canadians on a local level. The Centre has committed more than $12.4 million to 33 initiatives seeking to address drivers of food insecurity. Finley brought this mission closer to the Maple Leaf masterbrand, ensuring that consumers understood the company’s commitment. He led the development of a marketing campaign that generated eight million impressions and inspired Canadians to donate to charities that partner with the Centre.

“This wasn’t about advertising for advertising’s sake,” Finley says. “It was about using our platform to do something meaningful. We don’t want to fake it, we don’t want to just be ephemeral and temporary – we want to build brands that really last. To do that you have to stay contemporary, you have to stay relevant, you have to speak the language of those consumers you’re seeking, but I think there’s a way to triangulate that between what the brand stands for and what consumers are talking about themselves.”

Finley and his team figured out how to do just that during the summer of 2024, when consumer interest in plant-based protein was waning. Maple Leaf Foods set out to reignite demand, particularly among Gen Z who are driven by sustainability and cultural trends. No Fixed Address had been working on strategies to reach Gen Z when an opportunity presented itself: Charli XCX’s single Speed Drive – affectionately dubbed the “Brat” anthem thanks to its rebellious energy – had become a viral sensation.

In response, the brand launched a cheeky two-word billboard in the heart of Toronto’s bustling Sankofa Square. One neon-green billboard read “brat,” the other “wurst” – a clever nod to Field Roast’s vegan bratwurst, wrapped in Charli XCX’s neon aesthetic. “With a $7,000 billboard buy, we earned $75 million in media value,” says Finley. “We were featured in Charli XCX’s Billboard magazine profile, covered in multiple languages – it was lightning in a bottle.”

D’Arcy Finley and his team appealed to Gen Z in the summer of 2024 with its “brat wurst” campaign, a reference to Charli XCX’s single Speed Drive. 

Then there was the collaboration between the company’s Greenfield Natural Meat, agency NFA and Emmy Award-winning Foley artist Sanaa Kelley. Together, they created the “Sound of Bacon” library – a playful collection of sizzling sounds designed for Foley artists to use as rain sounds in films. Proceeds from the initiative went to One Tree Planted, reinforcing Greenfield’s commitment to sustainability.

The digital out-of-home component was equally inventive: whenever it rained, billboards displayed a video of bacon frying, prompting passersby to “listen to the rain” and think of bacon. “This campaign captured our mission in a way that’s uniquely ours,” Finley notes.

“It’s a different world out there now. The sun is past noon on the branded TV spots, 30 second commercials etc., and we’re in a new world,” says Finley. “You can’t grip the steering wheel and guide the branded car through the course the way you want to. Sometimes that course is going to change, and I think by having trusted partners it lets us squeeze the wheel a little less tightly and have the brand take a natural course.”

Greenfield Natural Meat, NFA and Emmy Award-winning Foley artist Sanaa Kelley collaborated on the brand’s “Sound of Bacon” campaign.

Whether leading plant-based innovations, advocating for antibiotic-free proteins, or addressing food insecurity, Finley’s work reflects a commitment to the greater good.

“It’s important for all of our brands to stand for something, we want our brands to be a magnet for what they stand for,” he says. “That could be real natural simple ingredients like Maple Leaf, that could be incredible craftsmanship and authenticity and irresistible taste like Schneider’s – each of our brands has a magnetic DNA that really matters to us. What we don’t want is to go and try and pander to different audiences and say, ‘Hey I’m cool just like you.’”